Ariana Grande and the Case of Dead Parrots
by Sakuragane San
Summary: my creative english assignment. the prompt was: Ariana Grande, bagpipes, and a dead parrot. this was what it resulted in. Enjoy-


Sitting in his office, Albus paused in his paperwork to stroke his beard thoughtfully. Ariana, he did not think the name was that common, and he could not help but to connect the name with his sister. His dear sister who was the casualty of the fight he had with his ex-lover, partner at the time, Gellert. They never found out who actually killed her, did they? Even when he duelled and defeated him, Albus could not bear to kill Gellert. Standing up suddenly as if he was struck with a stroke of genius, which it was if he said so himself, he quickly jotted down the idea.

| Perform a piece with bagpipes, a flock of birds -something flashier than peacocks, if possible- for the Grande girl with my sister's name.

Between his work as a Headmaster, Supreme Mugwump, and Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Albus found little time that he could use to practice the bagpipes, and that was with the subtle help of time-turners. Nevertheless, he felt he was adequately prepared for when the Second Task was over, and he could actually perform what he had been working on the past three fortnights.

* * *

Ariana woke up gasping and quivering. This marked the third consecutive night that dreams had interrupted her rest. Ever since her name came out of the Goblet, she had been confronted by schoolmates and professors alike. Ariana had not expected to be chosen when she put her name in with her friends'. Being Chosen as a Champion, studying for NEWTs, solving the First Task's clues, the witch had also been plagued by a dream. The exact dream was not always the same, but they all had the same components: the cries and screeches of dying birds and horrendous bagpipes playing, sometimes she could see a hazy figure as well.

Figuring since she was already awake, she would prepare herself for the morning. Tossing a couple of texts into her bag, she holstered her wand and walked down to the Great Hall. Ariana filled her plate with toast and fruits. She looked up to see her friend coming to sit beside her.

"Hey Ariana, have you figured out what the Second Task could be? And good morning." her friend yawned.

"No... I've been waking up due to dreams. At this point, I'm not sure if they can be called dreams anymore. I've told you about them before- the strangled cries of dying birds, the horrendous bagpipe playing. Today there was a hazy image, and it looked human enough." the witch replied.

"Ah, have you figured out what kind of bird it might be? Besides, you aren't having to make up dreams for Divination."

"Hahaha, true. We best get going if we don't want to be late to Charms. I'm not looking to spend the morning with the 'Puffs."

* * *

Up until the days before the Second Task, Ariana still woke up from the dreams that plagued her. Even the Sleeping Draught did not work. Her only peace of mind was that she a full eight hours of sleep the night before the Task. Her fellow Champions did not look much worse than she felt.

* * *

"...And we would like to award Ariana Grande 39 points for being the second to surface with her hostage and being 14 minutes over the one hour given."

Ariana stood up, scanning the crowds when she gasped. There was Professor Dumbledore, standing from his seat at the Teachers' Table, and was he clutching bagpipes? She ignored the announcer and stared straight at her teacher, her mind rapidly connecting the dots.

With a flick and swish of his wand, Dumbledore Conjured a flock of parrots. To his greatest embarrassment, they were dead, but he simply smiled. For what he had planned, dead parrots were nothing! Placing the pipes to his lips, he took a breath and started playing. Glancing over his half-moon spectacles, he watched in horror as the Grande girl began paling. This was not going according to his plans as all!

Wetting her lips, Ariana stared in horror at the Teachers' Table, at Professor Dumbledore. He summoned dead parrots of all things, and he was the one with such horrible playing?! Her nightmare was a vision of the future after all.

* * *

Sitting on the edge of his bed, wringing his hands and attempting to still them by stroking his beard, he ran through the day's activities. He had not expected his plan to fail to that extent, or for his plan to fail at all! Hopefully the girl with his sister's namesake will forgive him, if not at least not be too traumatized by the events of the evening. He feared Grande might not look at him with respect anymore- who would, after that spectacle?


End file.
